Parsley And Mustard Combine To Perk Up Fresh Flounder

December 19, 1985|By Pierre Franey, New York Times

NEW YORK — Some foods, like watercress, radishes, shrimp and crab, possess dominant flavors. Other foods must be allied with certain ingredients to make them seem worth eating. Among these I would list pasta, potatoes, snails and fish, particularly fresh flounder. Flounder needs to be given character, a task easily accomplished by, for example, breading the fish and deep-frying it, by serving it with a white-wine sauce or by matching it with strong and pronounced flavors, notably a large amount of blanched, finely chopped parsley and a small amount of Dijon-style mustard.

I used four skinless, boneless fillets of moderate thickness. I arranged them in a buttered pan, sprinkled them with salt and pepper and brushed them with a tablespoon of dry white wine. The fish were then placed in an oven preheated to 500 F. The total baking time was 5 minutes. What is nice about this recipe is that the cooking time for the sauce is also about 5 minutes. The sauce consisted of a small amount of cream blended with shallots and white wine and the mustard.

The side dish for the evening was a blend of cooked carrot strips and strips of cucumber, flavored with a touch of ground cumin.

FILLETS OF FLOUNDER WITH PARSLEY AND MUSTARD SAUCE

Butter for greasing a pan

Salt to taste if desired

Freshly ground pepper to taste

4 flounder fillets, about 1 1/4 lbs

1 tbsp plus 1/3 cup dry white wine

2 cups parsley leaves, stems removed, loosely packed

2 tbsps finely chopped shallots

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tsp Dijon-style mustard

Preheat oven to 500 F. Select a rimmed pan or skillet large enough to hold fillets in one layer. Generously butter bottom and sides of pan. Sprinkle bottom of pan with salt and pepper. Arrange fillets close together over the pan bottom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and brush tops of fillets with 1 tablespoon of wine. Bring enough water to the boil in a saucepan to cover the parsley leaves when added. Add parsley leaves and let cook about 1 minute, no longer. Drain thoroughly and run under cold water. Drain. Put parsley in a clean square of cheesecloth and squeeze to extract excess liquid. Put parsley on flat surface and chop fine. There should be about 1/3 cup. Place fish in oven and bake 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour remaining wine in a saucepan and add shallots. Cook until wine is almost evaporated. Add parsley, cream and mustard. Stir and bring to the boil. Add to the sauce any liquid that accumulates around the fish. Add salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over fish and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

CUCUMBERS AND CARROTS

2 large cucumbers, about 1 1/4 lbs

2 carrots, about 1/2 lb

2 tbsps butter

1 tbsp finely chopped shallots

Salt to taste if desired

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 tsp ground cumin

Peel cucumbers and cut each lengthwise in half. Scrape away and discard seeds. Cut each cucumber in half crosswise into thin slices. There should be about 4 cups. Set aside. Trim off ends of each carrot. Scrape carrots. Cut each carrot crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise into thin slices. Stack slices and cut them into thin strips. There should be about 2 cups. Bring enough water to the boil in a saucepan to cover carrot strips when added. Add carrots and let cook about 4 minutes. Add cucumbers and cook about 1 minute. Drain well. Heat butter in skillet and add shallots. Cook briefly, stirring. Add carrots and cucumbers and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.